Dreidel


Hanukkah is a holiday that Jews celebrate in November-January. The events of Hanukkah refer to the battle of good and evil, and the word Hanukkah means sanctification and consecration. Hanukkah is not mentioned in the Old Testament festivals, but it is mentioned in John 10:22; And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.

Hanukkah is above all a celebration of joy and light, and at the party it is customary to play with a small merry-go-round or dreidel, which in Hebrew is שיבון‎ Sevivon. It is said that the game was invented by Jews who read the Torah in secret during the reign of Alexander the Great, the Seleucid dynasty. Reading the Torah was illegal and Jews could hide in caves. Whenever there was any sign of the Seleucids approaching, they traded the Torah for dreidels.

Each side of the dreidel has the Hebrew alphabet נ (nun), ג (gimel), ה (hello), ש (shin). In Israel, the last letter Shin is often pey. The letters form a sentence that is in Finnish A great miracle happened here. It refers to the oil miracle during the temple.


DREIDEL GAME INSTRUCTIONS

There can be two to more players. For the game, you need a dreidel roller and, if you want, a game platform. In addition, you need either chocolate coins, other candies or raisins or nuts for the game. I chose chocolate coins for the game instructions, but you can choose what you want to play the game with.

To begin: Distribute a small amount of chocolate coins to each player equally. Everyone places one chocolate coin in the middle of the table, the rest is up to the player. If you run out of chocolate coins on the table during the game, everyone adds one more to the center of the table. You can choose a starter, for example the smallest in the family, and everyone from then on takes turns spinning the dreidel.

When it's your turn, spin the dreidel on the table. If you get

n Nun - Nothing . The turn goes to the next player.

ה Hi - Half . You get to take half of the chocolate coins on the table. The shift changes.

ג Gimel - All . You get to take all the chocolate coins from the table. After this, the table is empty, so everyone puts their own one on the table. The shift changes.

ש Shin / פ Pey - Put one . Place one of your own chocolate coins in the middle of the table. The shift changes.

The one who runs out of chocolate coins drops out of the game. The game continues until one player has received all the chocolate coins. You can play several rounds so that everyone wins a pile of chocolate coins for themselves, or after the game you can distribute the chocolate coins among all players so that each player wins. Happy gaming moments!

 

TIP: If it's your first time playing and you can't remember which sign meant what, print the rules for everyone to see. After a few games, you'll also start learning the Hebrew alphabet!

 

You can find all dreidels and dreidel-themed products here!

 

 


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